Deep in your eyes
by Dean-Dwarfchester
Summary: Thorin wants to learn how to dance. He wouldn't ask a dwarf other than Dwalin to help him on this. Fill for the prompt "Dwalin teaches Thorin to dance." on the kink meme. Anon OP did ask for slash, I think, if the slash in Dwalin/Thorin means it, I hope he or she doesn't mind, I just don't see these two together but I did like the prompt. Sorry sorry sorry! I suck at titles.


Even if Thorin feels completely ridiculous and out of place, he would never have asked another dwarf to help him with this than Dwalin. They're in Thorin's living chamber, they moved every piece of furniture to the sides and the space is wide. Thorin has been standing there shifting nervously and Dwalin is starting to grow desperate.

"Are we going to do this or what, Thorin?"

"Yes, in a moment" Thorin said glaring at his friend.

Dwalin rolls his eyes at his King. He was the one who came to ask Dwalin for help! Now he was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room looking at the floor like it had offended him.

"Let's start then" said the regal dwarf, looking like he was about to puke.

Dwalin sighed and walk towards Thorin. Thorin stepped back immediately and Dwalin growled at him.

"Don't move back! How am I supposed to help you if you move away from me?!"

Thorin growled himself and walked back to where Dwalin was standing with his hands on his hips.

"Very well. First of all, you have to let yourself lose. You're always so tight and stiff, King mine, and to do this, you have to be relaxed. Move your hands as if you were throwing something away. Like this"

In that moment, Dwalin started moving his whole body and it looked as if he had no bones, as if he was having a seizure. Thorin stared at him as if he was growing another head before shaking his head.

"Dwalin, are you sure you know how to do this? I want to be excellent, and that doesn't look excellent at all"

Dwalin stopped and glowered at Thorin.

"I'm not dancing yet yoy deaf oaf! Haven't you listened? This is to let your body loose!"

Thorin moaned.

"Go ahead, my King, relax your arms and legs"

After sighing very deeply for a minute or two, Thorin began moving the same way Dwalin had. It was true that the dwarf King could be more relaxed, but Dwalin did this mostly to amuse himself a little.

"Very good, now, let's choose a melody to dance to and make our best at humming it."

They decided on the song played whenever a couple of dwarves got engaged. Thorin blushed and scowled at Dwalin when he mentioned it would be playing at Durin's Day, so Thorin better learn to dance it.

"Let's show you how to dance! Give me your right hand and put it around my waist, and hold my right hand with your left one"

"Are you making fun of me, Dwalin?" said Thorin once again backing away.

"Have you never seen any dances before?"

"No, whenever we threw balls in the kingdom we were too busy sneaking around the mountain and getting the musicians drunk!" said Thorin with a spark in his eyes.

"Ah yes, those were good times indeed." Dwalin nodded the the memories of them laughing and clutching their aching bellies.

"Do tell me, my friend, if you were always there next to me, how is it that you know how to dance?"

Dwalin smirked. "Thorin, what do you think a battle is? A dance! Violent and bloody, alright, but a dance nevertheless. You fall into a rhythm, and you follow improvised steps, that helps you have discipline and it'll make it easier for you to strike and defend yourself."

"If what you're saying is true, how come I cannot dance?"

"You can, Thorin, you're just always thinking of yourself as a king and that gets in your way all the time! You forget about the small things of life that make us happy and think of how ridiculous you look doing something un-kingly before thinking of how you could turn that ridiculousness into majesticness."

Thorin considered for a while. "I think Ori has softened you ad turned you into a poet, my friend"

"I'm far from being a poet. And at least I accept my love for my young flower, unlike you, oh mighty cowardly King!"

They glared at each other before Dwalin broke it with rumbling laughter.

"C'mon then, your hand around my waist."

Blushing, Thorin did as Dwalin told him. They must look so stupid, two grown dwarves, one with heavy furs and the other with a heavy chain mail, holding each other and humming a cheerful melody, while trying to coordinate steps and to not step on each other. Thorin was awful at this! The King was constantly looking at their feet and payed no attention to the position of his hands or the curve of his back.

"Thorin, you have to look up or you'll walk over other couples!"

"I'm trying, I just do not want to step on his feet!"

"You're not managing to not step on mine! Look, once you get the hold of the times, you won't step on him, so pay attention to my movements and try to mirror them, then, you will have to lead me. Go ahead, look at me."

Thorin glanced upwards and looked at Dwalin. The warrior looked as serious as ever. Only, he didn't. Thorin was very close to his friend's face, he could not focus on anything else. He looked into the bright eyes in front of him. They were serious, that has been said already, but also, they hid the small dwarf that would run havoc across and along the mountain with Thorin. They hid amusement and peace and happiness, three things Thorin had never seen in these eyes ever since exile. They were friendly and warm, and anyone who didn't know Dwalin would probably laugh at Thorin if he told them this about the warrior. Thorin felt warmth flow through him at the sight. He knew having Erebor back would return them their happiness of old, but he knew they had gone through so many horrible things, things he would never wish his people to go through ever again, and that his friend and him have been scarred in so many ways, he never thought he'd see these feelings in Dwalin's eyes again.

"Thorin?"

They had stopped, but they were still holding each other. Dwalin was looking concerned and Thorin winced at losing the other emotions in the dwarf's eyes.

"I'm sorry my friend, I got lost in my thoughts"

"May I ask which kind of thoughts?"

Thorin hesitated for a bit. "About you. About your eyes."

Dwalin's brow went shot up and Thorin shook his head.

"Don't take that the wrong way. I was just thinking about how I thought I'd never see you this happy again. And that I'm so glad that you are, my friend, you deserve it." Thorin's smile was a mixture of affection and sadness.

It was time for Dwalin to correctly study his king. It was no secret to others that Thorin hadn't smiled or laughed truly since the Dragon, and everyone thought the Dwarven King to be sour and dark. But Dwalin knew his friend better and he had seen the changes he had gone through. Loss had stained his once red cheeks, and weariness had his shoulders hunched. The warm gazes that could once make even the coldest heart open up were gone, and came back only when his nephews were born, and at the beginning of their journey to get their home back. Dwalin saw these gazes again then and felt hope flare inside of him every time they made themselves known along their journey. And all the times they were for their burglar. So now, now that their people were safe, had a place of their own, it was one of Dwalin's biggest wishes to get his old friend back.

That was why he was here, a fierce warrior holding in his arms a King, helping him approach a small Halfling, who a little more than a year ago pretended to be a burglar and stepped up to several dangers to help a group of strange dwarves, and on the way, stole Thorin's heart away.

Dwalin cleared his throat. "You will be as happy too, my friend. That's the reason we are doing this"

He didn't mean only the dancing lessons, he meant anything Thorin asked of him, Dwalin would help.

Thorin understood this and smiled fondly at him. "Indeed. How am I doing it?"

"Well, you did better when you were lost in my eyes!" Dwalin smiled smugly.

"I wasn't lost! I was just, appreciating the sparkle there"

"Oh, that does sound better!" Dwalin chuckled at Thorin's violent blush. That's the dwarf he wanted to talk to. "Let's try again, Thorin, this time, I'll close my eyes, and you try to focus on the dance!"

Thorin glared at Dwalin and then laughed, easiness flowing between them, their embrace never faltering. They were brothers, if not entirely in blood, in bond. And that made Thorin not to feel out of place anymore.

They tried for a couple of hours, Dwalin teasing Thorin's eye-foot coordinating skills and Thorin's glare growing harder, though the king was so determined on everything he set himself to do, he managed to lead the dance and barely stepped on Dwalin's feet. By the time their throats were raspy of humming without rest, Thorin had already mastered the whole song without stepping on his friend and his back always straight and his eyes on the other's.

"You did great, Thorin. You'll make several lads gap and lasses swoon, I'm sure."

"Not if you start dancing before I do."

"Oh you're gonna make me blush" They both chuckled and wrestled like they had never stopped being the carefree lads they once were.

"Thank you for taking some of your time to teach me this"

"No problem, though let's not let anyone know about it. Courting a scribe is enough to put in question one's fierce reputation!" Dwalin said fondly

"A scribe is not as bad as getting bruises on your feet while teaching dancing lessons, that is true."

Dwalin knew they could get their happy old days again. He knew he'd get his mischievous and hell raiser friend back, maybe in the form of a responsible serious King, but Dwalin would make sure Thorin never lost that other part again. An he'd have help, he was sure.

"He's as lucky of having you as you are of having him, and I'm sure he'll enjoy all the dances you have"

Thorin looked at Dwalin and smiled, his affection visible, as he walked towards his friend and put their foreheads together.

"We made it, what we wanted. I love you, brother."

Dwalin sighed and leaned into their closeness. "Me too, brother"


End file.
